Cheney football falls 27-13 at Sunnyside

The Cheney Blackhawks kicked off their 2017 season in a non-conference game at Sunnyside, a 4A Columbia Basin Big Nine school, last Friday, Sept. 1. After the three-hour bus ride, Cheney fell to the Grizzlies 27-13 in front of a crowd of dedicated Blackhawk fans and students in the visitors section.

"Overall, the kids showed great effort," head coach Bobby Byrd said. "There were too many mental mistakes, but we will continue to get better."

In the first quarter, Sunnyside got on the scoreboard before Cheney could with quarterback Nicholas Ervin handing off the ball to Eddie Davila who ran it into the end zone. The Blackhawks responded with a rushing touchdown from quarterback Cole Hinrichs, but missed the point after touchdown, making the score 7-6 in favor of the Grizzlies at the end of the quarter.

Sunnyside continued their scoring run as they had seven more points in the second half, making it 14-6 going into halftime.

Opening up the second half, the Grizzlies added 13 points to lead 27-6, holding the Blackhawks scoreless.

Entering the final quarter, Cheney was down 27-6. The Blackhawks were able to score one more touchdown in the contest on a play where Hinrichs threw backwards to running back Charles Johnson, who then hit wide receiver Camden Verstrate for a touchdown, making it 27-13. Despite trying to make a comeback in the final minutes, CHS eventually fell to Sunnyside.

"Our mental discipline needs to change," Byrd said. "In the end, we just need to clean it up. The effort was there, we just need to make it more intentional."

The Blackhawks had a tough time in penalties as they had 12 for 75 yards. On the other side, Sunnyside had six penalties for 40 yards.

Cheney had only seven first downs while the Grizzlies had 12. Sunnyside also led in total plays with 52, while the Blackhawks had 42. No individual stats were available at press time.

"Charles Johnson had a great running game and Camden Verstrate had good catches," Byrd added. "Defensively, defensive lineman Trace Vilandre really stepped up along with defensive back Zach Jongeward, who are both first year starters."

The Blackhawks will continue their season tomorrow, Sept. 8 at home against the Greater Spokane League's North Central, kicking off at 7 p.m. at Tom Oswald Field. Last year, Cheney earned the win against the Indians 22-21 at Joe Albi stadium.

"The first week is tough," Byrd said. "It will help that we are at home for our next game. We will really get the kids locked in."

North Central is currently 0-1 after the first week of competition, as they fell to a familiar foe, East Valley High School, 58-57 last Friday.

Grace Pohl can be reached at [email protected].